Index |
Headlines |
Rayale To Spend Several Millions $ On A Private Trip To The UK, Germany And USA
Dan Simpson: The Ghost Of Somalia
Interview With Dhimbil
"Extremist" Splinter Group Of Somali Islamic Courts Formed
Ethiopian Army Commander Defects To Eritrea
Somaliland Party Leader Urges Mogadishu Courts To Reassure Region On Peace
Can the Somalia Crisis Be Contained?
Lebanon/Israel: Urgent Need For Ceasefire And Investigation Of War Crimes
Kazakhstan Denies Somalia Arms Lift
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Regional Affairs |
Somalia's Leaders Sack Government
Pastoralists Face Extinction Unless Govts Act To Save Them
Fears Of Further Bloodshed In Somalia
Navy Reaches Out To East African Countries
Arab League Urges Somali Islamists To Resume Government Talks
Ethiopian Troops Clash With Somali-Based Rebels
Ethiopia Attacking Ogaden Rebels
Communiqué
Nigeria: Outside View - Marshall Plan for Africa?
Somalia: Ass'n Exposes Growing Repression On Youth in Mogadishu
ORSOD Observes Its Second Anniversary
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Editorial |
The Incitement Against Ethiopia Wont Work
Sub-Editorial: Abdi Samatar: The Professor Of Terror
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Special Report
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REPORT ON FAMILIARISATION TOUR TO SOMALILAND
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International News
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Britain Names 19 Of 24 Suspects In Air Terror Plot
Muslims Fear New Wave Of 'Islamophobia'
MP3 Live: K'Naan Breaks Out
Islamic Victory In Somalia A "Seismic Shift," Says Davidson Professor
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FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
Somalia’s High Stakes Power Struggle
Editorial: Exposing The Lexicon Of The Anti-Somaliland Camp
Through The Danger Zone
Arrival Of Partners Or Predators?
Arrival Of Partners Or Predators?
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Food for thought |
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Opinions
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New Parliament: Weighed In The Balance And Found Wanting
The Somalia Tragedy Part II
THE WORLD IS FLAT
Is Rayale An Honest President?
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Somalia's Leaders Sack Government
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President Abdillahi Yusuf (left) and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi
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"Mr. Ghedi will remain, but his ministers will quit", President Abdillahi Yusuf.
Baidoa, Somalia, August 7, 2006 – The leaders of Somalia's crisis-ridden interim government say they have resolved their differences and agreed to dissolve the cabinet.
Some 40 ministers have quit the cabinet over the prime minister's opposition to peace talks with the Islamist militias who control the capital, Mogadishu.
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Pastoralists Face Extinction Unless Govts Act To Save Them
Ali Wario, chairman, Kenya Parliamentary Pastoralist Group.
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Addis Ababa, August 7 -13, 2006 – Over 300 pastoralist groups from 19 countries gathered for eight days at Qarsa Dambe village in Yebello District of southern Ethiopia to discuss their plight. They were from the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Asia and Latin America.
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Fears Of Further Bloodshed In Somalia
Mogadishu, Somalia, August 10, 2006 – Somali Islamic militia on Thursday announced plans to seize control of the central regional capital of Galkayo, sparking a massive deployment by their rivals and raising the specter of renewed bloodshed in the shattered East African nation.
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Navy Reaches Out To East African Countries
Djibouti, August 07, 2006 – Sixth Fleet forces can no longer claim sole ownership of African engagement. The U.S. Navy now has the continent flanked on either side.
As part of the strategy to build a “1,000-ship” fleet by like-minded nations, the Navy is reaching out to East African countries from the antiterrorism base in Djibouti.
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Arab League Urges Somali Islamists To Resume Government Talks
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed leader of Islamic Courts speaking to the press recently
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CAIRO, Egypt, August 11, 2008 – The Arab League has called on Somalia's dominant Islamic courts to resume negotiations with the transitional government next week, officials have said.
The League, which is mediating peace talks between the two parties, said Friday the Islamists had rejected an August 15 resumption date, suggesting next month for a possible return to the negotiating table.
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Ethiopian Troops Clash With Somali-Based Rebels
Nairobi, August 11, 2006 – Ethiopia says its troops have engaged separatist rebels in the east of the country, killing 13 and capturing several senior commanders, after they crossed the border from Somalia. Ethiopia accuses both Eritrea and Islamic leaders in Somalia of fomenting civil unrest in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian government says the captured members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front have confessed to being both armed and trained by arch-enemy Eritrea and Islamists in Somalia.
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Ethiopia Attacking Ogaden Rebels
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, August 04, 2006 – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says his government has been conducting "military sweeps" against rebels in Ethiopia's Somali region.
The push against Ogaden National Liberation Front rebels came after Somali elders had gone to Europe and the US to meet them, he said.
Mr. Meles said he endorsed the meetings to try to resolve the conflict in the region, but that the talks had failed.
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Communiqué
Somali JNA Consultative Validation Workshops Garowe, Baidoa, Beletweyne and Hargeysa 16-28 July 2006
The United Nations and World Bank, in conjunction with the Somali authorities convened consultative validation workshops in Garowe, Baidoa, Beletweyne and Hargeysa to review the Somali Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) cluster findings and recommendations for the majority of regions in Somalia, during 16-28 July 2006.
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Nigeria: Outside View - Marshall Plan for Africa?
Lagos, August 9, 2006 – While a serious setback for the international counterterrorism effort, the growing power of the so-called Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in southern Somalia also constitutes an opportunity to adopt new, more effective counter terrorism strategies.
The time is ripe for rethinking the counter terrorism approach toward the Horn of Africa region, as U.S. diplomatic and military efforts have failed to deprive the international jihadist movement of an enclave in stateless Somalia. Indeed, the worse case scenario seems to be unfolding before our very eyes. Within the Islamic Courts hardliners with historic ties to al-Qaida are reportedly pushing aside more moderate leaders, just as the UIC secures unquestioned authority over the one-time capital city of Mogadishu and its port and extends its control to other parts of southern Somalia.
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Somalia: Ass'n Exposes Growing Repression On Youth in Mogadishu
Addis Ababa, August 9, 2006 – The repressive acts perpetrated by the extremist group in the Union of Islamic Courts against the youth living in Mogadishu and its environs have been escalating, the Somali Refugee Youth Association in Addis Ababa said.
Association Chairman Moham-med Aideed, who just returned from a 15-day visit to Mogadishu, told WIC Monday that he has come to understand that the extremist group is causing a lot of suffering on the people in general, and on the youth in particular.
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ORSOD Observes Its Second Anniversary
Hargeysa, Somaliland, August 12, 2006 (SL Times) – ORSOD a youth organization dedicated to the fight against the use of Qat by Somalilanders, has recently observed the second anniversary of its launching.
A gathering to mark the occasion was held at the IPRT office in Hargeysa. The meeting was opened by the organization’s executive director, Ahmed Bashe Abdi who gave a brief description of ORSON’s background, objectives and achievements.
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Headlines |
Rayale To Spend Several Millions $ On A Private Trip To The UK, Germany And USA
Presiden Rayale on his return from his two months long European trip made early this year, (left) Vice President and other government officials receive the president at Egal International Hargeysa airport.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, August 12, 2006 (SL Times) – Somaliland president Dahir Rayale Kahin is expected to leave Hargeysa for London in the next 48 hours. The president will later visit Germany and the USA.
The visits have not been officially announced by the Somaliland government yet. But the Somaliland Times has learnt that the president will be accompanied during the trip by his wife, Hudda Barkhad, the new Foreign minister Abdillahi Mohamed Dualle, the Finance minister Awil Ali Dualle and a number of other officials.
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Dan Simpson: The Ghost Of Somalia
Somaliland Should Be Allowed To Depart A Chaotic Country In Transition
Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug. 11, 2006 – The issue of whether Somaliland should be recognized as a separate, independent country has been on the African and international agenda since government collapsed in Somalia itself in 1991.
The entity that calls itself Somaliland, the former British Somaliland, which merged with the newly independent Italian Somaliland in 1960 to form the then nation of Somalia, has had many of the attributes of nationhood for more than a decade. These include a functioning government, settled borders, a flag and a constitution. It even has an airline, Daallo Airlines, which I didn't find substantially worse to fly than US Airways.
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Interview With Dhimbil
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, August 12, 2006 (SL Times) – Ahmed Hashi Dhimbil was among a number of individuals who facilitated Somaliland president Dahir Rayale’s recent visit to 5 countries in eastern and central Africa. He discussed the significance of the president’s African tour with the Somaliland Times last week.
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"Extremist" Splinter Group Of Somali Islamic Courts Formed
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Mogadishu, Somalia, August 12, 2006 (SL Times) – A group that broke away from the Mogadishu [Islamic] courts recently announced in Mogadishu the formation of a new group called Al-Shabaab [the Youth].
The new group is reported to be made up of young militia who erstwhile belonged to the courts' alliance, which fought and defeated the [capital] warlords. The new group is led by Adan Hashi Ayrow, who is said to have been trained in Afghanistan and is among the people listed in the US as a terrorist.
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Ethiopian Army Commander Defects To Eritrea
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Gen Kemal Gelchu (Shabait)
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Nairobi, August 10, 2006 — Ethiopia on Thursday said a dissident general, who had tried to "sow discord" in the army, has defected to rival Eritrea.
Ethiopian Brigadier General Kemal Gelchu crossed into Eritrea on Tuesday, said the Ethiopian Defense Ministry, which described him as disgruntled after being denied a promotion.
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Somaliland Party Leader Urges Mogadishu Courts To Reassure Region On Peace
Excerpt from report by Somali Radio HornAfrik on 7 August
[Presenter] The chairman of Somaliland's opposition Kulmiye [Unity] Party, Ahmad Sillanyo, has for the first time given his views on changes taking place in Mogadishu and how differences between the Union of Islamic Courts [UIC] and the federal government could be resolved. Hassan Kafi Qoyste has the details.
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Can the Somalia Crisis Be Contained?
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Africa Report N°116
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Nairobi/Brussels, August 10, 2006 – Somalia has been drifting toward a new war since the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was formed in late 2004 but the trend has recently accelerated dramatically. The stand-off between the TFG and its Ethiopian ally on the one hand, and the Islamic Courts, which now control Mogadishu, on the other, threatens to escalate into a wider conflict that would consume much of the south, destabilize peaceful territories like Somaliland and Puntland and possibly involve terrorist attacks in neighboring countries unless urgent efforts are made by both sides and the international community to put together a government of national unity.
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Lebanon/Israel: Urgent Need For Ceasefire And Investigation Of War Crimes
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Public Statement
New York, August 6, 2006 – Amnesty International reiterates its call for an immediate, full and effective ceasefire after civilian death highs. On Friday 5 August, at least 23 Syrian agricultural workers were killed by Israeli forces on a farm in the village of al-Qaa on the Lebanese-Syrian border according to various reports. This was the highest number of fatalities recorded so far in a single incident together with the attack on a building in Qana on 30 July. Over the past four days, rockets fired by Hizbullah from southern Lebanon at Israel are also said to have killed at least 14 civilians. These kinds of attacks by both sides have become part of an increasingly entrenched pattern which includes war crimes.
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Kazakhstan Denies Somalia Arms Lift
The cargo plane landed in Mogadishu on July 26 and 28
Nairobi, August 07, 2006 – The Kazakh foreign ministry has denied that it delivered weapons to Somali Islamists, following reports that a plane bearing the Kazakh flag which landed in Mogadishu was loaded with arms.
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International News
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Britain Names 19 Of 24 Suspects In Air Terror Plot
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Scene of Crime Officers outside a cordoned house in High Wycombe, England after a massive security operation resulted in a number of arrests across the United Kingdom, Friday Aug. 11, 2006. The Bank of England froze the assets of 19 people early Friday, naming them as people arrested Thursday in connection with an alleged terror plot to bomb British passenger jets. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON, August 11, 2006 -- British officials Friday identified 19 of the suspects accused of planning to blow up U.S.-bound aircraft in the biggest terrorist plot to be uncovered since 9/11. In Pakistan, officials reported signs of an al-Qaida connection and said they had detained a "key person" in the case.
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Muslims Fear New Wave Of 'Islamophobia'
British police officers stand guard outside a cordoned-off house in High Wycombe, England after a massive security operation resulted in a number of arrests across the United Kingdom, Friday Aug. 11, 2006
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London, August 11, 2006 – The news that a terrorist plot had been uncovered in Britain sent shock waves through the country's Muslim community. It now appears that nearly all of the men arrested in the aborted plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners were British citizens of Muslim descent. The established Muslim community leaders fear their young population is becoming more susceptible to Islamic radicalism.
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MP3 Live: K'Naan Breaks Out
River, California, August 7, 2006 – With a sound that fuses Bob Marley, conscious American hip-hop, and brilliant protest poetry, the Somalian MC was the most promising artist at the 2006 Reggae on the River festival.
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Islamic Victory In Somalia A "Seismic Shift," Says Davidson Professor
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Ken Menkhaus
DAVIDSON, N.C., June 8, 2006 – Davidson College Professor of Political Science Ken Menkhaus was hoping to use his sabbatical year to expand his research on African politics into new parts of the continent. But major developments in Somalia, his principal country of expertise, have forced him back to that troubled land.
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Somaliland Map
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Hargeysa Bridge Committee web Link http://www.hargeysabiriij.com
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Editorial
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The Incitement Against
Ethiopia Wont Work
Since taking power in Mogadishu in early June 2006, the militia of the Islamic Courts Union have been engaged in an ugly campaign of incitement against Ethiopia both as a people and country. The aim of this campaign has been to drum up support among Somalis for the courts. And to achieve this goal, the leaders of the Islamic Courts tried to rekindle an animosity that until the recent past used to exist between Somalis and Ethiopians.
Calls for jihad against “Amhara infidels occupying Somali territories” have suddenly become the courts standard slogan for vilifying Ethiopia.
Sub-Editorial : Abdi Samatar: The Professor Of Terror
People who have only heard recently about Abdi Samatar and are not familiar with his career may have been surprised by his latest reincarnation as a spokesman for Mogadishu’s Islamic Courts, an entity that is widely viewed as a terrorist organization. What happened to the good professor, they may be asking. But those who have followed his career, probably weren’t surprised.
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Special Report
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REPORT ON FAMILIARISATION TOUR TO SOMALILAND
In November 2005, the Centre for Human Rights began investigating the possibility of a third destination for the LLM field trip. The reasons for increasing the number of field trip destinations to include Somaliland include the following:
Somaliland is a state in the making; it would be ideal for students on the programme to have a first hand experience of this.
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Opinions
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New Parliament: Weighed In The Balance And Found Wanting
By Jamal Madar, London, UK
In the past, the Somaliland parliament performed poorly as an institution mandated to ensure that the executive branch serves the best interests of the public. The apparent lack of pressure by the parliament on the government to become financially, politically and constitutionally transparent and accountable enabled the president to become an authoritarian and wield an immense power, which renders his words unchallengeable.
As a result of the parliament’s complete and utter failure to exercise its legitimate responsibility to monitor and control the activities of the executive branch, the chief executive [president Rayale] took for granted in using his political power for illegitimate ends to the extent that it would not be an easy task to force him to submit himself and his government to a system of governance which will demand accountability and transparency.
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The Somalia Tragedy Part II
Stabilizing Somalia and Avoiding War in the Horn of Africa
By Ahmed M.I. Egal
Fifteen years ago in January 1991, the barbarous regime of Somalia’s long time military dictator, Mohammed Siyad Barre, collapsed and along with it collapsed the rickety edifice of the hollow, corrupt structure that passed for the state in that woe begotten country. The rapidity of the collapse of the Siyad regime and its structure of despotism masquerading as government, took its opponents by surprise and the country quickly descended into fiefdoms controlled by warlords competing for power and wealth.
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THE WORLD IS FLAT
A comment on: Exposing the lexicon of the anti-Somaliland camp
By Yusuf Dirir Ali, Netherlands
This Awdalnews editorial hits the nail on the head. It unveils the tactics and misinformation used by the Anti-Somaliland gang. The article stalwartly refutes the allegations of the Somaliland -haters in an eloquent, factual and civilized language.
The dilemma with the Anti-Somaliland camp is not that they are trying to mislead, but they never seem to have had a lessons in civics, geography or history. They sound to believe that mother- earth was created in October, 1969 if not soon after. Worst, they seem to believe that the world was shaped by the former Somali dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre and is inherited by the warlord who enslaves their own respective villages or city blocks.
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Is Rayale An Honest President?
By Hussein D Obsiye
Everyone admires a successful President. A successful president, in my opinion, is the one who takes the country one step further than when he/she took over; the step does have to be long, but must be tangible. For example, President Cigaal disarmed the militias and transformed them into trained uniformed military. I want Rayale to succeed too and leave a visible mark—the fraudulent elections and the pocket book democracy are visible, but do not constitute a positive contribution.
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FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
Somalia’s High Stakes Power Struggle
Author: Eben Kaplan, Assistant Editor
August 7, 2006 the Council on Foreign Relations
Introduction
Though Somalia has been plagued by violence for much of the last fifteen years, fighting intensified in 2006 as militias loyal to the country’s Islamic courts began expanding their territorial control. They have forced out other militias run by the warlords who have been the primary power brokers in Somalia since the collapse of the country’s last stable government in 1991. The conflict is hardly taking place in a vacuum. Somalia’s neighbors are accused of influencing the nation’s internal violence to serve their own interests, while other countries are concerned the emergence of a dominant Islamist group could make Somalia a breeding ground for terrorism. As Robert Rotberg, director of Harvard’s Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution, explains, “Everyone’s meddling.”
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Editorial: Exposing The Lexicon Of The Anti-Somaliland Camp
The lexicon of the anti-Somaliland camp revolves around several mantra words such as dissent, limited government acreage of influence, clan dominancy, hijacked will, secessionist, northwestern Somalia, accidental president, pre-colonial, post colonial. They tell us if you are democratic why do you suffocate dissent voices, why do you arrest and deport native Somalilanders who oppose Somaliland 's decision to withdraw from the union. We tell them you are right my sisters and brothers we should not be doing that. Either we are democratic or we are not. Every Somaliland citizen should have the freedom to voice his/her opinion in Hargeysa; a valid point, well taken. Unlike you, our brothers and sisters, we are democratic and own up to our shortcomings.
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Through The Danger Zone
Hi, it’s Brian, writing from Berlin. I have one English language TV channel in my apartment here, and, though I should really be watching the local channels to improve my German, I can’t help but occasionally migrate back to the comforting refuge of TV in my native language. (Nothing against the TV here, but I can only take so many dubbed episodes of “The Simpsons” before wanting to throw the remote in frustration. My German is bad enough that I can only understand a few of the jokes, and, besides, they don’t seem translate all that well.)
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Arrival Of Partners Or Predators?
By Greg Mills and Steve Stead
THE conventional wisdom is that China presents Africa with major threats and opportunities, and that there is growing tension between the US and China over the latter’s evolving African interests. A recent high-level meeting of African, US and Chinese specialists held at Tswalu in the Kalahari found that there was no strategic conflict between the US and China, though this situation was dynamic and could change. And the prospects for such conflict may be heightened by the pursuit of China’s African commercial interests almost exclusively through state-owned firms.
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Can Farah Force It In 5000m?
HOPEFUL: Distance legend David Moorcroft is hoping that Mo Farah can finally beat his British 5000m record.
London, August 10, 2006 – BRITISH distance legend David Moorcroft has backed Mo Farah to become a legend in his own right following his sensational performances in his breakthrough year at senior level, writes LUKE WILSON.
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The Case Of Somalia
The international community headed by the UK and the US have pulled the world into an avoidable global conflict between secularism and ideological Islam. Western powers cooperated in the early 20th century to destroy the final vestige of true Islamic political power in the form of the Ottoman Khilafah. After an initial period of shock, ideological Islam has gradually worked its way back into popularity amongst the masses in the Islamic world, even though Western powers have tried to prevent it.
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Road To Anarchy
The Ethiopian bid to remove the Union of Islamic Courts from power in Somalia risks destabilizing the entire region.
By JOHN CHERIAN
Mogadishu/Baidoa, Somalia, August 1, 2006 – WITH the attention of the international community riveted on West Asia, another country has sent its forces into its neighbor’s territory. In the third week of July, Ethiopia officially acknowledged that its troops were in the Somali city of Baidoa. From indications available in late July, Ethiopian troops are preparing for a march on the Somali capital, Mogadishu, having secured control over two towns.
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